Author: Allistair Lomax

Of the 336 MPs who voted for the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill,  333 were Labour MPs, only 49 Labour MPs voted against.

The Bill passed, subject to review. It has only been delayed in its full implementation. It should never have been voted for on any terms by the majority of Labour MPs. It will create a two-tier system; existing claimants getting access to PIP, but future claimants being denied.

This is a huge cut, similar to the 2017 cut of Child Tax Credit being limited to two children for each family. The health element of Universal Credit looks like being cut much soon.

People under 22 years of age were being focused on to be cut from this. Even before this Bill was passed welfare budget cuts were passed by Conservative governments from 2010.

The new Labour government continued the roll out of Universal Credit, which was always a cut of benefits. It abolishes separate benefits by phasing them out. Disabled people, of working age, depend on PIP as essential support. PIP is the gateway for getting more income under Universal Credit, as Pension Credit is for pensioners. Using one gateway to access essential support acts as a deliberate cut.

Many single State pensioners are caught by a rise of £s a week, it goes over the limit for Pension Credit; thousands of £s a year is lost to them. Couple State pensioners can not only lose Pension Credit, but Housing benefit and Council Tax Exemption too.

Before this Bill there was hardship, sometimes resulting in deaths. NATO expansion and the proxy war in Ukraine caused high energy bills.

At the recent NATO meeting Keir Starmer promised 5% of GDP on Defence by 2035. Twelve new F35 nuclear capable planes were bought from the USA, costing £1 billion. Hundreds of Storm Shadow long range Missiles have been sent to Ukraine, costing £2 million each. The new Trident nuclear weapons and Submarines will cost an estimated £205 billion.

We can afford welfare not warfare.

Welfare is being cut to finance the warfare.

The Socialist Labour Party has been campaigning for a peaceful future since before this century.

Join us!

Kathrine Jones, Vice President, Socialist Labour Party.

Our General Secretary, Chris Butler, comments on Unite the Union’s reluctance to call out Keir Starmer for cutting benefits while pledging to increase defence spending.

“I notice that Unite does not comment on the reason why Starmer wants to make savings in the cost of benefits.

It is so he can increase defence spending to 5% of [UK] GDP. Unite does not comment because they have workers in the Arms Industry building weapons to kill innocent women and children in Gaza, including parts for the F35 fighter planes used to blitz Gaza.

Unite also has members building Small Modular Reactors producing nuclear power.

I don’t think Unite supports Welfare not Warfare.”

Chris Butler 30-6-2025

(It is worth noting that the UK currently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defence, which in 2024 was around £64 billion. The proposal by Starmer to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP will mean by 2035, the UK will be spending £140 billion every year on defence.)

I fully support RMT’s Statement which calls for an end to the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

I estimate that the UK have expended £25 billion in support of Ukraine who came to “power as a result of a coup d’etat” .

The people, organisations who staged the overthrow of elected government are the same elements as those in the West of Ukraine who fought with the Nazis in the second world war

Yours in Comradeship

Arthur Scargill

President  NUM. 1982- 2001

President I.E.M.O 1996 -to date

30th of June, 2025

(The original message to the RMT via email was censored as “inappropriate”.)

The Socialist Labour Party condemns the military attack on Iran begun over the weekend by United States President Donald Trump acting in conjunction with the fascist state of Israel.

The bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities makes a mockery of US calls for the restoration of “negotiations in accordance with the plan agreed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany (the P5+1), a plan scrapped by Trump on 2018, during his first term as president.

This bombing not only violates international law but is In breach of the US Constitution as Trump has not even consulted the US Congress.

China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea have condemned the United States for its appalling act of aggression. The Socialist Labour Party calls on all governments which genuinely want peace, not world war, to join them.

What is needed are not empty pleas for “restraint” but action which will enable Iran to effectively counter the insane war-mongering of Donald Trump and the fascist state of Israel, and at the same time bring an end to Israel’s ongoing destruction of Palestine.

Socialist Labour Party
Sunday, 22 June 2025

The position of the Socialist Labour Party

Welfare or Warfare, that is the question. That is the question that divides those who care for one another from those who want to dominate and kill others. It includes those who  believe in  helping others, in a welfare state, our NHS, housing, transport, fare wages, pensions  and conditions at work, care for the elderly and disabled. Respect for gender and race. After all, It is warfare that creates the need for welfare.

The other side of the question contains those who want to dominate others, who think only about profit and power. Those who are prepared to use force  to get their will, to suppress others and remove their liberty.

This, they dress up as the need to show strength, for security. They are prepared to invest in arms and weapons that will be used to kill others, to suppress others, to rob them of their well being and wealth. This is neo-colonialism, empire building. It will be dressed up as security, the need to protect ourselves. We need weapons for our defence. We need a strong arms Industry to build these weapons. After all, the arms industry provides jobs, well paid and highly skilled jobs. This is money well spent .

This is not defence, it is offense. It is possible to produce weapons for use to defend us in a case of aggression against us. This is quite different to weapons designed for offense, to kill and subjugate others.

The Arms industry does produce jobs. However, while siphoning off vast amounts of money it pollutes the planet while producing the means of killing people. The money invested in “defence” should go into industries producing many more secure, highly skilled jobs, meeting social needs – such as an integrated energy policy, involving all environmentally acceptable forms of energy:  carbon-capture/clean-coal; wave; barrage; geo-thermal and, above all, solar power.

 Why is it so much easier to find money for killing than money for social and economic well-being? 

The Socialist labour Party is fully committed to Welfare, not Warfare. We believe that the wealth created by our industries must be invested in people, in their welfare, not in killing and suppressing people.  We will restore all benefits and at the higher rate seen in many European countries. We will invest in industries producing socially useful products., in transport, housing, education, our NHS and our vital infrastructure. We will leave Nato, and produce arms only for defence. We will end austerity.

How will we pay for this? By a fair taxation system, taxing the rich and stopping  tax evasion. Having left Nato we will not be raising the percentage of our GDP on arms, paid to the Arms Industry. We will cancel the renewal of the Trident Nuclear submarine fleet, producing an estimated saving of £205 billion. We will stop selling arms to conflict zones such as Palestine or the Ukraine which just fan the flames of war. Through nationalisation of our vital industries we will not be paying excessive bonuses to fat cat bosses. Our trade unions will play a vital part in ensuring safety and proper wages and conditions at work.

In this way we will be able to end austerity. To pay proper welfare benefits, pensions and wages to our citizens.

End austerity, Tax the rich. Welfare not warfare, comrades.

Arthur Scargill.

Chris Butler.

June, 2025